February 11, 2013 - submitted by Chris, United Kingdom

Q. Is this painting where the album cover of Viva la Vida came from? If it is the painting, it's bad that the woman ruined it.

The Oracle replies:

It's always sad when art is defaced and yes, that is the painting - Eugene Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People.
Last year there was a woman who decided to touch up a fresco - Ecce Homo - with rather alarming results. It wasn't a deliberate attempt to ruin a work of art but ruin it she did.